Ten groups of additives are commercially available for improvement and surface modification of manufactured material, including anti-scratch and mar resistance, gloss, surface flattening, tack reduction, tackifiers, surface tension and wetting, surface cleaning, hydrophobization, anti-cratering and leveling, and coefficient of static friction.

Surface appearance is one of the most important properties of many products. It must be tailored to the product needs which are frequently very different in various applications.